Mazda Delivers a Hydrogen Hybrid

Mazda has combined a cult classic engine with hybrid technology in a car that gives us a peek into a fuel cell future.

The automaker delivered the first Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid to Japanese energy giant Iwatani this week. It is the first car to feature a rotary engine, a lithium-ion battery-electric hybrid system and the ability to run on either hydrogen or gasoline.

We commend Mazda for its dedication. Tab was in vending machines when it first crammed a Wankel into the 1967 Cosmo, and Crystal Pepsi was still for sale when the HR-X rotary hydrogen concept debuted at the 1992 LA Auto Show.

Mazda says the hydrogen hybrid will have a range of about 125 miles, about twice that of the hydrogen RX-8. Hydrogen is stored in a tank at about 5,000 psi.

This will be Iwatani’s second hydrogen Mazda, having received a hydrogen RX-8 in 2006. The company is a major distributor of LPG and Japan’s leading hydrogen producer — and counts “the commercialization of clean energy from liquid hydrogen as an ultimate energy source to supersede LPG” as a core tenet of their corporate philosophy.

“Mazda will use the feedback we receive from Iwatani to further improve the performance of hydrogen-fueled rotary-engine vehicles as we wish to do our part to achieve a hydrogen energy society in the future,” Mazda’s hydrogen head honcho Akihiro Kashiwagi said in a statement. From there, the vehicle begins testing as an official vehicle at the airport in Osaka.

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